Joseph Daigle (New Brunswick politician)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Joseph Zénon Daigle (born June 23, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer, judge, and former politician from New Brunswick. Of Acadian descent, he was born in Saint-Charles, NB, and studied at St. Joseph’s College, the University of New Brunswick (Bachelor of Civil Law), and public international law at the University of Paris. He began private practice in 1960 and served as a provincial court judge from 1967 to 1974.

In 1974, Daigle was elected to the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly as a Liberal for the district of Kent North. He became leader of the Liberal Party in 1978 and served as Opposition Leader. In the 1978 election, the Liberals were narrowly defeated; Daigle faced internal dissent after the loss and controversy from a campaign speech, and he resigned as leader, leaving politics to return to law.

Daigle was appointed a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick in 1982 and became its Chief Justice in 1994. He then served as Chief Justice of New Brunswick from 1998 to 2003, after which he took supernumerary status. In 2004, the federal government appointed him to chair the Miramichi and Acadie—Bathurst Electoral Boundaries Commission. In December 2015, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada.

Personal life: Daigle is married to Rhéa April and has four children. His parents were Antoine J. Daigle and Laura Daigle.